Wichita eagle., 1887-08-12
STARTLING RESULTS.
CEREBRAL PHENOMENA IN CONNEC-
TON WITH ALCOHOLISM.
"Poliuto" Tells Strange Story-A Trip
from Dublin to Misunderstanding
for Scientists to Look After--A Double

"Poliuto'' Tells Strange Story.A Trip
| for dentists to Look After--A Double
/ Man.
In going from London to Dublin I had pur-
| chased round trip tickets. The ro- te was by
| rail to Holyhead. on the coast of Wales,
thence by steamer across the Irish sea to
| Kingstown, Ireland, and then rail TO Dublin.
Under the guidance OF Mr. Dillon's secre-
| tary, while visiting the various points Of in
| terest, was induced to drink good deal Of
Irish whisky. The people whom we encoun-
tered were sociable and pressing in their hos
| pitality, the more especially as the guest was
| an American, for whom it did not seem that
| they could do enough.
The last day of my stay the potations were
| frequent and the leave taking ELUSIVE and
impressive. I never was fond of alcoholic
drinks, but my scruples against extended
ibations were met by the assertion that Irish
whisky was pure extract, without headache
or other i'll after effects. Ny associates would
toss of three glasses to my one, the mean
while exhibiting no signs of intoxication.
Tho train was to leave about o'clock in the
afternoon, and little before that hour my
escort babe me good by and left me at the
Shelbourne house. My head was perfectly
clear up to this point. Neither any Of the
party nor myself was unduly eIhiarated
There was none Of the boisterousness, the
raised voices, characteristic Of inebriety.
There was simply stimulated good feeling,
50 to speak, when we parted. called for my
bill, Paid it, and had a carriage sent to take
me to the depot. Ientered the vehicle, waved
a salute to the porter and started
1t was daylight, and was seated in a first
class compartment in a railway train.
glanced out of the window and recognized the
hedges and the quaint farm houses Of Eng
land. Two men were in the compartment
besides myself. I glanced in their faces, and
saw nothing to excite uneasiness-that is,
there was nothing in their conversation or
their attitude toward me to indicate that
there was anything unusual in the situation.
A moment before l was in a carriage leaving
the Shelbourne house, and the next moment
was speeding through England; in fact, it was
not five minutes after found myself in the
car before the smoke Of London began to ap-
pear ON the horizon, and but a little later
when the train halted in Euston station. In
time, as railways measure it, the distance be-
tween Dublin and London is seventeen hours.
For that period, then, as it soon dswned on
me, had been unconscious.
People who have ever passed the bounds Of
sobriety in their use of liquor know what con-
stitutes the ordinary nature of intoxication.
There is a variation, of course, according to
the nerves, the brain, the physical condition
of the person In the case of none, however,
does it happen that the moments of apparent
insensibility are really absolute blanks The
intoxicated person will have dim glimmerings
through the darkness in which he fingered;
that he parted with this or that person at
such point; that he mounted a car or en-
tered carriage, or that he saw the acquaint-
anee during the period Of his drunkenness
Such was not my experience. The ordinary
form Of intoxication leaves an impression Of
. lapse of time of greater or less duration In
my case the hotel in Dublin and Euston were
separated by no time save such the brief
minutes elapsed after I recovered conscious
ness up to reaching the station l must have
been driven to the depot, where entered the
cars and was taken by them to Kingston
At that point must have gone aboard the
packet, and on reaching Holyhead 1 must
have gone from the boat to the London train.
Now, all this was accomplished without diff
fculty, for my clothing was undisturbed in
any manner, and my watch, money and
everything else in place as they were when /
left Dublin.
It is impossible to conceive that I was as
sisted into trains, or off and on the boat, or
was carried, for the reason that my hair and
clothing were in perfect order ] had Ger.
tainly undergone no handling on the part of
strangers. / had evidently, if / may Judge
by the attitude of the two men in the COM
partmens with me, been guilty of no indis- |
erection, or anything unseemly when entering |
the car. or they would have watched me with |
curious glances when l woke
In the condition in which l was plunged, !
for seventeen hours of which [ have no re- |
membrance whatever, / must have appeared :
no different from the ordinary traveller and
have attracted no especial attention In |
other words, to use a common express On, |
must have been drunk" to most extraordi- |
nary extent; SO much 50 that memory utterly |
failed me, and yet in condition in which l |
was able to conduct myself and my affairs in |
a manner TO attract no notice.
Here were clearly two conditions in which |
| was placed at the same moment each of /
which is exactly unlike the other-antagonis
tic in every particular. was two distinct
persons, one of whom was intoxicated to pro-
found irsensibility, and the other of whom
was able TO select routes, change from one
class Of vehicle of transportation TO anotSer.
to hand ont tickets, presumably in all ways to
conduct himself so as to be above the sus-
picion of being in an abnormal condition |
was grossly intoxicated in one sense, and not
the least in another. Had my inebriation
been of the usual character / should have lost
the greater portion of my remembrance of
what occurred, and I should have been help
less in limbs and incapable of locomotion.
speech, or intelligent intercourse with others
Involved in this experience must be some
cerebral functions that were not operated in
3 normal manner. The phenomena of the ex-
perience point to brain conditions that are
little or not at all known. and whose possible
results are innumerable and likely TO be start
ing. Assuming the truth of my conclusion
hat while in this dual condition there was
one part of me-the dominant part-that was
able 20 transact business, 10 have the appear
,nce Of entire sobriety, it is easy to conceive
situations in which broader consequences
night have ensued. 1t is possible to fancy
hat while thus conditioned / might have
igned notes, contracted marriage. committed
arceny, or even murder, without having the
highest consciousness OF it when / resumed
ny normal state.
! have experienced the ordinary and com
non results of the average form OF inebriety .
'ften enough to be entirely prepared TO re-
move my Dublin journey 50 far from the
cerebral d0main Of the other. / make this
,vowal concerning an experience in tbs |